Lara Croft and the Crown of Amari
by Fierce N Feisty
Summary: Lara Croft is at it again...this time in search of the mythical Crown of Amari. But, an unexpected ally in the form of Alex West makes her question her own emotions. CHAPTER 4 IS UP!!!!!
1. Default Chapter

Sunlight struggled to filter through the thick jungle foliage, landing on the ground in mottled, uneven patches of yellow and gold. The air was heavy with humidity and buzzed with the activity of thousands of insects. Flashes of bright color, movements and sounds resonated through the leaves. The underbrush vibrated, whispering and sighing under the feet of countless unseen creatures. Overhead, squeals, clicks, caws, and cries bounced back and forth – an echoing concert of varied pitches and tones. The entire jungle hummed with the commotion of wild, untamed life.

Standing alone in the midst of the serene environment was a woman – a stark contrast to her seemingly undeveloped and uncivilized surroundings. She was young and incredibly well built. Muscular legs and thighs were clothed in tight-fitting black shorts. Toned and tanned arms stood bare against an olive-green tank top, the material clinging to her body with perspiration and accentuating the luscious curves of her figure. Glossy, chestnut hair snaked down her back and past her waist in a single braid. Whisps of hair had come loose around her face, attractively framing the enchanting features. Arching eyebrows, full, pouty lips, chocolate-brown eyes, smooth, sculpted cheekbones…that she was wildly beautiful could hardly be contested by anyone.

Strapped to the woman's thighs were twin pistols – 9mms, fully loaded. A utility belt was slung across her thighs, carrying – among other things – several extra ammunition clips, a utility light, and a vicious looking hunting knife. A loaded-down black backpack was slung over her shoulders. She held a small electronic device, a global positioning instrument. It was the latest toy that Bryce had concocted, complete with satellite phone and database for whatever information she felt necessary for her expeditions.

Lara Croft shifted the weight of her backpack. Her eyes were fixed intently in front of her. Looming out of the trees, some 200 paces away, was an enormous stone structure. From where she stood, she could tell immediately that it was Mayan. It was built in the same rough, stair-step pyramid design of other Mayan temples she had seen on past excursions. Multiple levels culminated in a peak several stories high, with the highest point set at about 75 feet above the ground. The Mayans believed they were creating a stairway to the gods – a holy pathway that allowed mortals to reach for beings on a higher plane. Once the temple had been completed by slave labor and consecrated by religious leaders, only the high priest had access to the highest level. For anyone else, climbing to the apex meant certain death, whether by the hand of man or the hand of gods.

Lara studied the temple for several minutes before returning the global positioning device to her pack and moving forward. The location seemed to be accurate for the Temple of Andora, but there was only one sure way to find out. She advanced quickly, barely making a sound as her feet fell softly on the jungle floor. She cautiously pushed the foliage out of her way, eyes and ears tuned into her surroundings. The last thing she needed was a surprise attack from someone with the same vested interest that she had in the temple…

She reached her destination and laid her hands upon the structure. The stone was rough-hewn and warm under the sun's intense rays. A smile played at her sensuously full lips as her fingers traced the edifice that ancient hands had labored to build thousands of years ago. The Mayan people may have rejected their countless religious and political leaders and scattered to the far corners of Central America, but their legacy lived on in the magnificent temples that stubbornly refused to give in to the destructive power of weather, war, and time.

Finding a semi-secure foothold at the bottom of the structure, Lara reached for her belt and unhooked a narrow cable-rope, clawed at one end. She tossed this end upward and felt it bite into the stone above. She tested the grip with her weight and, once satisfied that it would hold, began the slow ascent to the top.

Bits of rock and gravel crumbled under her feet as she climbed. She dug her boots into the stone, using her own weight against the rope as balance. Inch by inch, level by level, she made her way to the top. She paused only to brush the perspiration from her eyes.

At the apex, Lara stopped to survey the view. The jungle was laid out at her feet – miles and miles of wild green landscape, broken only by the muddy-brown paths of lazily-flowing rivers. There was no sign that civilization even existed in this land of the untamed. The heat of the sun, uncomfortable on the jungle floor, was intense and nearly unbearable at the apex of the temple. It turned the air around her into a kaleidoscope of shimmering, melting, blurring waves and set her flesh simmering under its inescapable reach.

Lara set to work, retrieving her climbing rope from the rock and returning it to her belt. She crouched to her knees in examination of the roof's surface. Digging with her fingers, she was able to pull several stones loose. If this Mayan temple followed all the rest, then there should be a small opening at the top, one used by the high priest during sacrifices. Several more stones followed, until she had created a good-sized dent in the facade. Lara reached into her backpack, and pulled out a hammer and chisel. With an impish gleam in her eye, she violently hacked away at the larger and more stubborn stones beneath. 

Her hammer had connected with her chisel barely a handful of times when there came a low-pitched, deep rumbling sound from below. The patch of surface she had been working on began to vibrate and move. Thinking fast, Lara threw aside her tools and snatched the hooked end of her rope from her belt. She slammed it as hard as she could into a deep crevice, just as she felt the ground beneath her feet give way and disintegrate into nothing. 

The cool air from inside the temple hit her face as she tumbled into darkness. She clawed at the air until her fingers found the rope. She tightened her grip just as she came to the end of the cord. Jerking to a rough stop, Lara hung suspended in the air, some 30 feet below the hole she had just fallen through. A single patch of blue sky peeked down at her, one ray of light against the inky blackness of the temple's interior.

"I think I found the door," she said wryly, her voice echoing off the walls. It was a cultured voice – a British voice, one that suggested an aristocratic upbringing. Her speech was perfectly articulate, perfectly controlled. Yet there was no mistaking the absolute delight, the child-like mirth, that bubbled just beneath the surface.

Lara reached again for her belt, this time to unclip the utility light. She flipped the switch and was instantly bathed in its warm orange glow. Holding it at arm's length, the light fell softly on the temple walls and floors.

Directly below her, about 30 feet down, was an elaborately designed altar, encrusted with gold and precious stones. Chadala, goddess of the afterlife, sat presiding over the sacred place, her arms folded across her chest, ruby-red eyes gleaming brightly in the dim light. Surrounding the altar was a moat, long since dried up. Further out, situated at the four corners of the altar, were pillars. They stretched from the floors to the ceilings and supported three balcony levels – each circling the entire temple and growing progressively narrower as they approached the apex. The highest level was only a body length below her, with the closest section to her left.

Lara immediately noticed that the floors of each level were comprised of brilliantly colored mosaics, each pattern and symbol representing the rank and importance of the holy men who would have stood watch over religious ceremonies. She recognized many of the glyph symbols from her research, but what interested her most were the carved writings that encompassed the altar. "Enter the temple of life," she recited, the familiar words tumbling in quick excitement from her lips, "and fear not the power of death."

If she had any doubts before that she had found the Temple of Andora, they were now completely erased. Eyes glowing bright with exhilaration, Lara hastily returned the light to her belt. She swung herself closer to the highest balcony level and effortlessly dropped down to its surface. She remained in a crouch for several heartbeats, all senses on alert. 

The legends about the Temple of Andora were known throughout the modern world of archeology. Long since believed to be the stuff of fairy tales, most of her compatriots – and competition – had written off ever finding it at all. But now that Lara had succeeded in locating it, she was suddenly very aware of the dangers that it was rumored to hold. If those rumors were true, then this would not be as easy as it looked. Lara grinned in anticipation.

Springing into action, she dove off the end of the platform, executed a mid-air front roll, and landed in a crouch on the floor below. Once again Lara paused, waiting, listening. Then, she was off again, repeating the maneuver and landing on the balcony above ground-level. Almost immediately, the floor beneath her gave slightly under her weight. Using the momentum from her dive, she catapulted herself into a backflip. A click-whoosh sounded somewhere to her left, followed by the high-pitched whine of something whizzing through the air. She landed on her feet several yards away in time to see a small dart embed itself into a supporting pillar, directly in line with where her head had been only moments before. 

"Darts, is it?" she mused, still smiling wickedly. "Well, alright, then."

Pausing only for a fraction of a second, Lara made a running leap for the edge of the platform. She somersaulted to the ground, then instantly pushed off again, handspringing in the direction of the altar. She could hear the click-whoosh of darts being triggered all around her, and the air became alive with the humming of a dozen or so released weapons. They found their marks on the walls and floors, just barely missing her every time.

Two more front flips, and she had reached the empty moat. She dove in, landing on her side and rolling out of the fall and onto all fours to minimize the impact. Directly in front of her, a gleaming blade suddenly sprang from the stone and sliced the air, inches from her nose. Another rapidly appeared below her, cutting at the space between her hands. With lightning quick reflexes, she arched her body backwards, hands finding the stone floor and pushing herself off in a succession of rapid backflips. The moat became animated with activity, blades materializing from every direction, all hungrily reaching for her flesh. Lara felt one particularly close blade knick her right forearm, slicing the surface of the skin and drawing blood.

Lara landed on her feet and catapulted herself over the edge of the moat. Just as her feet left the ground, she felt the air swish with the movement of blades intended to cut her off at the knees. She cleared the edge with no time to spare and barrel rolled to the ground. Sliding across the stone floor, she had both pistols drawn before she came to a stop. Crouched on one knee, breath coming quickly, Lara was ready for what came next.

Above her, from the mouth of the idol-goddess, came a black, undulating shadow of motion. Scorpions, their tails curled and ready to strike, poured over the head of Chadala and towards the altar in droves. Lara opened fire with both pistols, the cavernous room amplifying the sound to a deafening roar. The idol's head exploded in a cloud of sparks and smoke and released still more of the venomous creatures. They scattered to the floor, clawing their way closer to her.

Lara maintained a steady siege, firing alternately with the 9mms. Her deadly aim never failed as the scorpions were mechanically dusted into oblivion. Once her clips were empty, she released them from the pistols and re-loaded with fresh ammo handily ready at her hips, all in a matter of seconds. She resumed firing, taking a few steps back as the deadly insects crept closer. One by one, they exploded under her relentless attack.

When all that was left of the scorpions were severed body parts, Lara re-holstered her guns. Hands at her hips, she surveyed the damage. Darts randomly littered the walls and floors of the temple. Triggered blades gleamed warningly from the recesses of the barren moat. And the glyph symbols carved around the altar – now presided over by a decapitated Chadala – had become the final resting place of hundreds of dismembered scorpions. "Enter the temple of life, and fear not the power of death," she repeated, the irony not lost on her. "Indeed."

Turning her attention to the altar, Lara noticed a brass plate covering most of the front panel. Pressed into the surface was a symbol – an upside down triangle, with a pictograph at each of its three points. A sun was positioned in the upper left corner, a moon in the upper right, and what appeared to be a rough representation of a man in the lowest angle. Positioned on top of each picture was a golf-ball sized depression.

"This looks familiar," Lara commented, reaching inside her backpack. She pulled out a leather pouch and proceeded to dump its contents into her hand. Three golf-ball sized, colorless gems rolled out onto her palm: courtesy of Mr. Edward Palmer, a client who had decided he didn't want the Trinity Gems after all. Well, to be perfectly honest, Lara thought to herself, it was she who had decided for him. No matter.

Lara carefully placed the stones into the settings on the bronze plate, one-by-one. "Life," she said, positioning the first gem over the sun, "Death…" Stone number two was placed over the moon. "And the space between…" The final stone settled into place over the stick-figure man.

Instantly, the bronze plate rotated clockwise, ancient mechanisms long out-of-use creaking and groaning to life. Hidden cracks appeared along the top edges of the altar and yawned open, revealing a cavern deep inside. With bated breath, Lara flashed her light inside. For a brief instant, she didn't see anything but a heavy casing of cobwebs. Then, she caught sight of what she was after – three scrolls, lying side-by-side in the dust-infested chamber.

Lara peered down at the Codes of Amari, a triumphant shimmer of satisfaction in her eyes. If even a fraction of the rumors surrounding the Codes were true, then with them in her possession, she would be well on her way to the discovery of an artifact long since regarded as impossibly lost and hopelessly irretrievable. An artifact that would garner millions, if not billions, of pounds in revenue. That is, if the fancy struck her to actually sell it instead of keeping it as a part of her ever-growing personal collection.

According to legend, the Codes of Amari held the key to finding the mystical crown worn by the child-ruler some two thousand years ago. Amari had been the daughter of slaves, a mere laborer, when her nation was thrown into a terrible civil war. At that time, the kingdom was ruled over by the corrupted King Sandulian, who was more interested in personal power and wealth than in furthering the good of his nation. The religious leaders under Sandulian were concerned that his enemies would take advantage of the kingdom's weakened state and wage a war to gain their land. They prayed to the gods for guidance and were rewarded with a vision. They saw that the peasants would rise up against Sandulian, and that one girl would be the one to deliver the final death blow to the wicked leader. That girl would be exalted above all others, the only one worthy to wear the crown and rule her people. To give this young girl the strength and wisdom that she needed to govern, Sandulian's crown, once placed upon her head, would give her the power to see both past and future. 

As the gods had foretold, the peasants rose up against Sandulian. Amari had been traveling with her family through the capital city when violence broke out. She was caught up in the furious crowd and carried far away from her relatives. In a desperate attempt to find them, Amari climbed to the top of the tallest building. As she stood at the edge, she saw a man on horseback fighting against the poorly armed peasants. Even those who showed no resistance or aggression fell in bloody heaps at the point of his sword. She watched helplessly, the screams of the dying ringing in her ears. Then, just when she thought she could take no more, she saw her own parents viciously slain by the cold-blooded horseman. Choking back fear, she raised a large stone above her head and let it fall. The stone landed squarely on the man's head, killing him instantly. Sandulian had been slain, and the religious leaders had their new ruler.

At the age of twelve, Amari was crowned ruler of her people. With the insight of the crown, she was able to avoid war with neighboring nations and bring peace and tranquility back to her own. However, before she reached her 20th birthday, her own half-brother, Tiranis, stole the crown from her possession. Without the ability to see into the future, she was blindsided and betrayed – murdered by her own flesh and blood. Tiranis believed that with the crown, he would be able to instate himself in Amari's place. However, when he placed the crown upon his head, he was seized in a fit of convulsions. Unworthy of the crown, he fell dead instantly. The religious leaders took possession of the crown and hid it far from their own kingdom. They believed that the spirit of Amari would return seeking the crown and were led by their gods to codify its location and place these documents within the Temple of Andora. Despite their fervent beliefs, Amari never returned, and the location of both the Codes and the crown died with the religious leaders, never to be recovered. Until now… 

Lara pushed aside the thoughts as easily as she pushed aside the thousand years' worth of cobwebs enveloping the scrolls. She reached into her backpack and brought out a rectangular metal lockbox, opening it before her on the ground. Inside were three sandbags, each 5 pounds in weight. She mentally noted that this would have to be a swift task, if the weights were off by even a fraction of an ounce. What shall it be? Hard way, or easy way?

Ever so slowly, Lara reached her hand to the first scroll, simultaneously lowering a sandbag into place. Steadying her grip, she paused almost imperceptibly. Then, in one swift motion, she caught the scroll in her hand and positioned the sandbag in its vacated place. She held her breath, waiting.

Silence. Lara relaxed, smiling to herself. Her relief was short-lived. 

Without warning, the entire temple began to quake and break apart, cracks forming at the walls and ceilings. Stones from above tumbled to the ground and stirred up a hazy cloud of dust, and the supporting pillars swayed ominously under their own weight, threatening to topple over at any moment.

"I always did prefer the hard way." Lara grabbed the two remaining scrolls in one hand and the Trinity Gems in the other and dumped them all unceremoniously into the lockbox.  In one fluid motion, she scooped the box off the ground and sprang, cat-like, atop the altar. With her free hand, she grabbed for a small-looking pistol at her waist. Taking aim, she fired it off with a shrill pop. A cable shot into the air and burrowed itself into the ceiling, a few feet from the opening at the apex. 

With a flying leap, Lara propelled herself up and into the air. She landed feet-first on the edge of the middle balcony and was immediately forced to duck and roll as a boulder three times the size of her head came plummeting down from above. The impact of the boulder instantly sent the balcony shivering with paroxysms of violent motion, tearing the cable from her grasp and threatening to take her down with the rest of the doomed temple. She struggled to maintain her balance and watched as the cable slipped well out of her reach. 

Still grasping the lockbox tightly to her chest with one hand, Lara threw herself over the edge. Her fingers closed around the cable, and her body slid down the length of it for several feet before she could tighten her hold and stop her downward motion. Behind her, she heard the rumbling of the balcony levels collapsing and falling into one another. Time was scarce and becoming more so with every passing second.

Lara reached behind her, lockbox in hand, and secured it in the space between her backpack and shoulder blades. With both hands free, she shimmied up the cable, ducking and covering with each new barrage of plunging stones and debris. Her limbs flexed lithely and with surprising speed as she inched closer to the opening at the apex. In a matter of moments, she had grabbed a hold of the edge and was hauling herself out onto the surface of the roof. 

She had barely gained her footing when the entire temple shuddered beneath her. Lara sprinted down the way she had come up, vaguely aware that the roof had begun to divide and open up in a multitude of places. She effectively dodged the fissures until the grip of her boots gave out under an avalanche of loose gravel. Fighting for her balance and finally losing, Lara tumbled down the rest of the way on her back. She could feel the rough stones tearing at her shirt and cutting into her skin. Lara dug her fingernails into the temple's surface in a half-successful attempt to slow her fall.

With a hard thump, she reached the ground. She rolled out and away, climbing to her feet in quick, almost graceful, fashion. Lara heard the temple cave in completely as she escaped to the relative safety of the trees. She turned back to see a cloud of dust rising from the earth in ghostly obscurity. The faint outline of what was left of the Temple of Andora stood faintly against the haze: one full pillar and half of another, one wall, and a massive heap of unstable stones.

Lara stood, covered from head-to-toe in dark-gray dust, blood running down her right forearm, shirt shredded to near pieces, and smiled. Her dark eyes laughed with roguish delight. "Now **that** was fun."


	2. 

Bryce sat in the media annex of the mansion, a seemingly permanent fixture amidst the impressive array of computer screens and consoles.   He was bent studiously over printouts and imaging photos, looking up only to reference a database of information on the laptop nearest to him.  His scruffy-brown hair fell haphazardly down his forehead and into his eyes, causing him to repeatedly and unconsciously brush it away with the back of his hand.  There was a look of singular purpose on his almost-comical face as he gazed hard at the screens and printouts.  He closely resembled a wild-eyed animal searching for its prey, very much at home in his natural habitat.    

Bryce was so completely absorbed in his work that he did not hear Lara enter the room behind him.  She stood in the doorway for a moment, a slightly amused smile playing about her lips as she observed the computer genius at work.  She wore a comfortably loose-fitting t-shirt and cotton pants, and appeared decidedly more urbane, though not necessarily more content, than she was in the jungles of Central America.  Her hair was pulled back into her trademark braid, and a small bandage covered the wound on her forearm.   

"What have you got for me?" Lara asked, crossing over to where Bryce sat.  

Bryce jumped in surprise, dropping the stack of papers from his hand.  "Bugger, Lara!" he exclaimed, a mix of irritation and alarm in his voice.  "I wish you would stop creepin' up on a fella'."  

Lara peered down at him, smiling playfully.  "Sorry, Bryce.  Next time I'll be sure to ring first."

Bryce grumbled something unintelligible, unimpressed by her humor.  Lara pulled out a chair next to him and sat down, stretching her legs out on top of the table.  Bryce hurried to rescue a few papers from beneath her boots and gathered them protectively to his chest.  He shot her a look of mild exasperation before speaking.  "Well," he began, organizing the printouts as he spoke, "my tests are not completely finished, but it seems as if the Codes are authentic." 

"Of course they are authentic," Lara answered in an unaffected tone.  "I hardly think the Mayans would have gone to the trouble of fiercely protecting fakes, do you?" 

Bryce ignored the comment and continued.  "The carbon-dating suggests that they are nearly 2,000 years old, which would fall in line with myth of Amari."

Lara leaned forward, taking a few photos from Bryce's hand.  "Hardly a **myth anymore, Bryce."  She paused, eyes full of roguish delight.  "I think the discovery of the Temple of Andora proved at least that much."**

Bryce scowled at her.  "Alright, Lara," he conceded grudgingly.  "You were right.  Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Lara's face broke out into a satisfied grin.  "Thank you, Bryce.  That **almost makes up for the pessimism you so graciously exemplified when I began this whole search."  **

Bryce sighed in exasperation.  "Tell me, Lara.  Do you ever get tired of being right?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I do not," she returned, only half-joking.  Then, turning her attention to the photographic images in hand, her expression became slightly more sober.  "I wish I was right about these markings, though.  The translation of the Codes has proven to be a much more difficult process than I anticipated."

"Still no luck?" he asked sympathetically.  He could relate to her frustration – there was nothing he hated more than being stumped by a programming code that he should know like the back of his hand.  

"I had assumed that the entire Code would follow pretty much the same pattern as all of the other documents that led me to the Temple in the first place," she pondered thoughtfully.  "And most of the ceremonial descriptions are familiar…However…"

"Still not givin' up the location of the crown, are they, then?"  Bryce finished for her.  

Lara lifted her dark eyes to him, a wry smile creeping at the corners of her luxuriously full lips.  "They **are being a bit obstinate, yes."  She sighed, dropping her feet to the floor and sliding out of her chair.  **

Lara restlessly paced to the other end of the room, where the Trinity Gems and Codes of Amari were carefully nestled under glass.  Centuries of dust and cobwebs had been cleaned off the scrolls to reveal the deep, burnished beauty of precious-metal casings engraved with the exquisite markings of a long-obsolete language.  Inside the protective casings were meters upon meters of parchment, faded badly from age, but still legible.  The pre-text, thousands of lines of ceremonial instructions, had taken days to decipher, and yet the real purpose of the scrolls still remained an illusive, enticing mystery.  The closer Lara thought she was to solving the puzzle, the more complex it became.           

"It's too bad the temple was destroyed," Lara mused.  "It might have offered some clues to reading the scrolls."

Bryce turned away from her and went back to his work.  "Too bad **you destroyed the temple, you mean," he muttered under his breath.**

"I heard that," she said warningly.  Bryce answered with a derisive snort.  

Lara stared wordlessly at the Codes for several seconds.  "My father would probably have been able to figure it out," she said quietly after a moment's contemplation.  "He knew more about Mayan languages than anyone else in the business.  Well, besides…"  She quickly stopped herself from continuing, exceedingly unwilling to go where that thought would lead.

Bryce glanced up at her.  Lara immediately knew what he wanted to say and hurried to speak first.  "I should check my father's books."  She moved to Bryce's side, searching over his shoulder for the remaining imaging photos of the Codes.  "I think I remember seeing a few of these glyph symbols in his notes."

 "Lara," Bryce addressed nervously, knowing full well the shaky ground he was about to tread.

"Don't start."  If the decisiveness of her tone did not warn him sufficiently, then the suddenly resolute look in her eyes should have done the trick.  But after years of dealing with her stubborn passion, Bryce was not that easily swayed.

"Lara, I know how you feel about working with other people, especially with **him," he spoke hastily, almost visibly flinching at the wrath he knew he was about to incur.  "And, you know I don't like him much, myself…But, all that aside, you really could use his expertise."**

She cut him off before he could finish. "I told you not to start," she admonished, her voice firm.   "I work alone.  You know that."  She grabbed a few photos from his hands and turned to go.  

"I'm just sayin', I know he'd be more than willin' to help after you saved his life, and all that."

Lara turned back to him, leveling a hawkish gaze at him. "Thank you for your opinion."  The tone of her voice suggested that she was anything but thankful.  "But, I cannot trust anyone outside this house."  Lara turned on her heel and left the room in a manner that stated the conversation was over.

Bryce followed her persistently into the grand hall, unwilling to let it go now that he had raised the courage to speak.  "Lara, be reasonable," he called after her.  "I know he doesn't exactly have a stellar record, but if there's **one person outside this house that you can trust, it's Alex West."    **

Lara stopped in her tracks at the mention of his name.  If her face had been turned towards Bryce at that moment, he would have noticed that her hard, unflinching countenance faltered for just a fraction of a second.  But, **only for a fraction of a second.  By the time she turned back to face him, she wore her usual expression of unflappable calm, tinged with the slightest hint of wry humor.  "I will **never** trust Alex West," she stated sardonically.  "I am not so desperate as to 'jump into bed' with the enemy."**

"Oh, come on, it would be fun.  And believe me, you **really don't know what you'd be missing." **

The voice from the other side of the hallway froze Lara's body in immediate shock.  She would know that voice anywhere.  But, this was not anywhere.  This was her home, and **he** did not belong here.  He did not belong anywhere **near** here, for that matter.  

Lara turned slowly, intensely hoping that her ears had deceived her.  But no, there he was in the flesh – hands casually stuck inside his pockets, a mischievous grin on his ruggedly handsome face, and that impishly sexy gleam in his eyes that she knew all-too-well.  He quickly surveyed Lara, eyes roving suggestively from head to toe.  "You're lookin' good, my dear." 

The sight of Alex caught Lara off-guard and left her feeling more than a little confused.  She hated feeling confused, and she **really hated being caught off-guard.  "I wish I could say the same," Lara answered coldly in an attempt to mask her flustered state of mind.  She shot Bryce a distrustful glower, suddenly very wary of his ill-timed and oddly persistent request to phone the tomb raider.  **

Hillary anxiously stepped from behind Alex, ready with a quick explanation for this unwelcome intrusion.  "I apologize, Lara," the scrupulously dressed butler articulated in perfect English.  "He simply walked right in and refused to be announced."  Hillary glared at Alex contemptuously, mentally noting that all Americans must be entirely without manners.

"It's alright, Hillary," Lara dismissed him a look that clearly stated she could handle her visitor.  The butler hesitated protectively for several seconds before finally leaving the room.  Bryce debated on whether to follow him out or not, his loyalty to Lara finally winning out over his dislike of Alex.

"What are you doing here, Alex?"  Lara crossed over to him as she spoke.  She had quickly overcome her surprise, and now suspicion was heavy in both her eyes and voice.  Distrust had been the foundation of their relationship ever since he had betrayed their friendship and sold her out for a single artifact nearly two years ago.  Even his past assurances and recent, semi-trustworthy behavior in dealing with the Illuminati could not alter their now-familiar routine of guarded wariness.

Alex gave Lara a winning smile.  "I was in the neighborhood.  Thought I'd drop by…"  He sauntered closer to where she stood.  "Sounds like I came not a moment too soon."  He smirked as he spoke, enjoying the thought of her depending on him for help.      

Lara turned to Bryce.  The ice in her gaze could have frozen the sun.  

"I had nothin' to do wi' it, Lara!" Bryce whimpered defensively, now wishing he had followed Hilary out of the room.  "I swear!" 

 "Come on, darlin'" Alex drawled in his annoyingly endearing American accent.  He smoothly took her hand into his own.  "Maybe I just wanted to visit my favorite fellow tomb raider, without any reason at all."  He placed a kiss on her hand and smiled up at her with wicked pleasure.  Behind Lara, Bryce rolled his eyes.  He suddenly remembered why he didn't like the American. 

Lara looked at him doubtfully.  "Now, why do I find that hard to believe?" 

"Tell me you aren't just the slightest bit glad to see me."  Alex's piercing, evocative gaze would have unnerved most anybody.  

Lara, however, was unaffected.  Now that she had regained her composure, she was determined to win the upper hand.  "'Glad,' is a little much, don't you think?" she smiled derisively.  "I believe 'irritated' would be much more fitting."

Alex dropped her hand to her side.  "You don't have to play coy with me, Lara.  I already know what's goin' on inside that pretty little head of yours."

"I doubt it," she responded dryly.

"I know what you're after," he continued.  He was baiting her, teasing her with a smug, cocky attitude matched only by her own.   

Lara regarded him with an outward air of disinterest, her very body language speaking with a blasé attitude.  She knew she must tread carefully.  She had to know what he knew, without giving anything up in return.  "And you think you have something I need?" she replied, bestowing him with a suggestive smile of her own.  "What makes you so sure that I could possibly want anything **you** have to offer?"  She allowed her gaze to fall below his waistline as she spoke, eyebrows arched naughtily.  

Alex shifted almost imperceptibly under her gaze.  Something about that smile always seemed to throw him off…"Your dear friend Bryce seems to think you need my help," Alex nodded in Bryce's general direction.  "And, I just **might** have come across some information that I know you need."

Lara's heartbeat quickened at the thought of gaining information that would help her in her search, but she was careful to hide her excitement.  "And how would you know that?"

Alex crossed away from her as he spoke.  "Well, let's just say that I have suddenly become inspired by a certain client to do a little digging into Mayan culture."  He paused, thoroughly enjoying the drama of drawing out what he knew.  "You might know him, actually.  A Mr. Edward Palmer?"

He waited for Lara's reaction and was disappointed when he didn't get one.  If she was surprised, then she did not show it.  Instead, Lara mildly replied with, "I may have heard of him."

"And you **may** have heard of the Trinity Gems, too?" Alex pressed.  "See, Mr. Palmer came to me, understandably upset, after the infamous tomb raider, Lady Lara Croft, failed in her attempt to find these very valuable gems for him."  He paused again, and when Lara did not speak, went on.  "He was hoping that I would do what she could not."  

Alex paced the floor around Lara, eyes fixed on her.  "Now, I thought that this was very odd.  Lady Lara had **failed** one of her missions?  I could barely comprehend the thought.  The Lara that **I** knew was not prone to failure.  Why the sudden change?  Had she lost that wonderful drive, that desire for success?  Or, was she just losing her touch?" Alex taunted, immensely enjoying even this slight power he had over her.  

"Hardly."  Lara spoke the single word with a heavy dose of condescension.

"Exactly!  Hardly."  Alex stopped pacing to stand directly in front of her.  "Lara Croft always gets what she wants," he stated, not without admiration.  "So, I quickly came to the conclusion that she had indeed succeeded in obtaining the gems, and that she had kept them for her own purpose, whatever that may be."

Lara cocked her head in impatience.  "Is there a point to all of this, Alex?  Or do you just intend to bore me to death?"

Alex ignored the comment.  "I did a little research, and guess what I found?"

"The point to your little story?" 

"The origin of the Trinity Gems – or, more accurately, the original use for the gems."  Alex paused again.  "You see, these gems were rumored to be the key to retrieving a crown, a very specific crown with the power to see both the past and future.  This clairvoyant 'Crown of Amari' was described as a relic of such remarkable and rare importance, something that was not even supposed to exist outside of legend…a crown that only the most crazy of all tomb raiders would seek."  Alex finished with a smile of satisfaction.  "And then, suddenly I knew what Lara Croft was up to."

"Fascinating."  Lara's face was expressionless.  "I'm sorry, I think I missed the part where you have something I need?"

"All in good time, my dear, all in good time."  Alex smirked.  "Not much for foreplay, are you?"  

Lara smiled smugly.  "That all depends on who's playing."  

Alex assumed a countenance of mock disappointment.  "Lara, my dear," he said, shaking his head.  "How many times must I tell you that it's not so much **who** plays the game, but **how** the game is played?"  He leveled his gaze to her, green eyes to brown.  "I have something that…well, let's just say something that will be invaluable to deciphering certain Mayan scrolls.  And you, consequently, have something I need.  Assuming, of course, that you didn't get that little scratch on your arm cooking dinner, and that your latest excursion to Central America was successful?"

"Aren't they always?  You said it yourself, Lara Croft always gets what she wants."  

Alex smiled appreciatively.  "And this time, we both want the same thing."  He took a step closer to her.  "It appears, my dear Lady Lara, that we are at an impasse, until some sort of arrangement can be made."  Alex smiled provocatively.  "You show me yours, and I'll show you mine…" 

Lara's countenance remained unaffected.  "An arrangement," she repeated dubiously.  "As in, a partnership."

 "Just a little 'jumping into bed' with the enemy," he replied slyly.   "You get what you want, I get what I want – we split the profits 50/50.  Everyone is…satisfied…"  He leaned in even closer, his face just inches from her face, his body nearly touching her own.

Lara could feel his breath on her lips, and the air around her suddenly seemed charged with energy.  The warmth of his body enveloped her inside a tingling, electric cloud, and the confusion that she had felt upon first sight of him unexpectedly returned with an unrelenting vengeance.  A long-forgotten feeling suddenly took hold of her senses, a feeling that she had not felt since before his betrayal…Instantly, Lara was overwhelmed with the sudden thought that maybe it was not him she could not trust, but it was herself…

Alex watched her hopefully.  He searched for some kind of sign, any sign that proved she knew how much she really meant to him.  After experiencing Lara's resentment over his admittedly foolish disloyalty to her, he had all but given up the notion that they could go back to the way things were.  Her anger had effectively closed all doors to the past.  Then, several months ago, she unexpectedly walked back into his life, an unwilling partner against a dangerous secret society bent on controlling time itself.  She had saved his life then, even after all that he had done, even after experiencing first-hand the treachery he was capable of.   Maybe there was still a chance after all…  

Then, just like that, the spell was broken.  Lara broke away from his invisible hold, her defensive instinct finally winning out over her emotional weakness.  "How do I know that you will not try to sell me out again?" she asked evenly.

Alex's shoulders slumped in disappointment.  "You don't," he returned, his voice surprisingly honest.

Lara stepped away from him as if to go.  "That's not very reassuring."  

"Trust is a complicated issue, Lara," Alex called out after her retreating form.  "And highly overrated, I might add."  When she did not respond, he continued.  "Face it, Lara, you need me."  Lara stopped in her tracks and turned to face him once more.   His voice was somewhat softer, almost tender, when he spoke again.  "Come on, Lara.  Don't be stubborn.  You know we work best when we work together."

She paused, watching him closely.  He had sold her out once for love of money, that was something she could not easily forget.  He had betrayed the only trust she had ever had for another person outside her little surrogate family.  But still…there was something in his eyes, beneath that arrogant exterior, that almost pleaded for a second chance.  Something that silently assured her that he was not about to make the same mistake twice.  

Lara sighed heavily.  How was it that, when it came to Alex West, her sentiments always seemed to win out over her better judgment?     

"We have a deal," she said at last, moving back towards him as she spoke.  She leaned in close before continuing, face as hard as stone.  "If you cross me, Alex, we may not be able to remain friends."  The look of potent intensity in her dark eyes left no doubt as to the seriousness of her words.


	3. 

The cool evening air wafted in from the open patio, pleasantly scented with the tangy, salt-water fragrance of the sea.  Against the inky blackness of the sky, millions of stars shown in brilliant splendor.  The night was still, with barely a sound to interrupt the relaxing calm – only the lulling sway of the waves against the shore disturbed the silence.  A sense of absolute isolation seemed to linger in the atmosphere.          

A lone man sat lounging near the large windows, cigarette smoke lazily hovering above his head.  He took another drag from the cigarette, eyes fixed on the panorama of night and sky before him.  He was average in build, dark hair, dark eyes.  His skin was of an olive complexion, and he possessed the broad forehead and high cheekbones characteristic in those of Mediterranean heritage.  He was dressed in a lightweight leisure suit of expensive-looking material, perfectly tailored to his frame.  On his right hand, he wore a diamond-studded ring, engraved with what appeared to be a family crest – a bird of prey, surrounded on either side by olive branches.

"I am sorry to intrude, Lorenzo," came a voice from behind the man.  He spoke in perfect English, only mildly accented with an Italian inflection.  "I have information that will be of interest to you." 

 Lorenzo Nicosi did not turn around to face the speaker.  He waved his free hand towards him.  "Come in, Alberti."  The smaller man obeyed, stepping out of the shadows to stand directly in front of Lorenzo.  Under the pale light of the terrace, a certain resemblance between the two men presented itself – same dark hair and eyes, same olive complexion.  Only the slightest of differences could be observed in their faces, and that only through close scrutiny. 

"Please, have a seat," Lorenzo offered, directing him to a nearby chair.  When Alberti had settled himself into his seat, Lorenzo extended to him a silver cigarette case.

Alberti shook his head.  "No, thank you," he politely declined.  His dark eyes shown keenly, burning with the important information he had in his possession.

Lorenzo took another slow drag, pausing to study the man sitting across from him.  He waited several more seconds before dropping the cigarette to the ground and extinguishing it with the heel of his shoe.  "Alright, dear brother," he said at last.  "What do you have for me?"

Alberti leaned forward in his chair, unable to contain his impatience.  "The translating stone," he answered.  "It has gone through a most interesting change of custody."

The older man took in the information with mild interest.  "Indeed?  Mr. Sageworth has finally been deprived of his most under appreciated artifact?"  Lorenzo spoke leisurely, and not without amusement.  The eccentric and somewhat insane old billionaire had been the owner of this priceless relic for nearly a decade, without even realizing its importance.  "I would say that it is about time someone who has a more, shall we say, 'vested interest' in the piece took possession."  He paused slightly.  "Anyone I know?"

"Someone you have heard of – a tomb raider by the name of Alex West."

A slow smile crept onto Lorenzo's face.  How he loved surprises.  "Alex West, is it?  This **is** an interesting new development."

Alberti anxiously leaned forward in his seat.  "This will prove to make our task more difficult, will it not?  Mr. West and Lady Croft are known to be long-time associates."

"**Have** been known, Alberti," Lorenzo corrected.  "I believe that there are still some trust issues between them that can be used to our advantage."  He leaned back comfortably in his chair, pondering the possibilities.  There was nothing he liked better than these sorts of twists to spice up the game.    

Alberti was not convinced.   Lara Croft's reputation definitely preceded her, and the idea that she had allied with a fellow tomb raider of nearly equal renown made him shift uncomfortably in his chair.  "Keeping track of Ms. Croft and the Trinity Gems was one thing," he persisted.  "But, now she has both the Codes and the translating stone within her reach.  It won't be long before she solves the translation."

Lorenzo's smile widened.  "That is what I am counting on."  Upon Alberti's confused expression, Lorenzo let out an easy laugh.  "Come now, dear brother, have a little faith."

Alberti could not understand Lorenzo's unconcerned attitude.  After Lady Croft had found the Trinity Gems, accomplishing in mere months what they could not after years of effort, Alberti assumed that Lorenzo would be eager to seize possession of them immediately.  Instead, the businessman had wasted time, waiting for her to find the Codes of Amari, as well.  Now, with Alex West entering the picture, the tomb raider had all the pieces she needed to find the crown.

Alberti lowered his gaze.  "I do not think it is wise to involve them any further," he pressed.  "They need to be eliminated."

The smile fell from Lorenzo's face, replaced by a look of displeasure.  "You have no patience," he chastised.  "You do not know the value of biding your time."

Alberti's eyes flashed.  "We have waited long enough!" 

Lorenzo regarded him with a look of cold contempt.  "We will wait as long as I see fit."  The tone in his voice left no room for argument.  "Understood?"

A moment of tense silence hung in the air between them.  Alberti glared at his half-brother with something akin to loathing, but said nothing further.  

Lorenzo nodded.  "Good, we wait," he said.  He opened his silver case and selected a new cigarette, placing it between his lips before continuing.  "You shall see, little brother.  Lara Croft is the key to the crown – she will lead us right to our prize."

*              *                *

"Is this what I think it is?"  Lara sat opposite Alex in the media room, examining the artifact sitting on the table between them.     

The relic that Alex had produced was a round stone, approximately forty centimeters in diameter.  The surface was etched with symbols, arranged in a circular pattern around the circumference.  Lara recognized the markings on the outer-most perimeter from her studies of typical Mayan glyphs, almost all of which she could translate.  Directly below this level were several more layers of writing, each getting progressively smaller as they approached the center of the stone.  The markings closer to the axis were the same as those she had been unable to identify in the Codes.

Alex nodded.  "That's right.  The Rosetta stone for the Mayan culture."  He traced his hand across the surface of the artifact.  "Apparently, the language changed so much over the centuries, that some scribe felt it necessary to clarify the meaning of a few widely-used symbols."

Lara looked up at Alex, excitement shining in her eyes.  "I had heard of such a thing, but none of my research could actually confirm its existence," she said.   Now that she had the missing link right in front of her, solving the mystery locked inside the Codes was only a matter of time.   

Alex returned her smile, and a feeling of shared enthusiasm passed between them.  Suddenly, everything felt familiar, comfortable.  For a moment, the past had been forgotten, and they were both encased in the easy camaraderie of their former partnership.  

But, it was only for a moment, and it didn't last long. 

"Do I dare ask where you found it?"

Lara's question made him shift uncomfortably in his seat.  "I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean."  He evaded her gaze.  "Well, not technically-speaking, anyway."

Lara raised an eyebrow, suddenly very suspicious.  "And what does that mean, exactly?"

"Let's just say I got a great bargain from someone who did not realize what he had in his possession."  Alex leaned back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head and a nervous smile on his face. 

Lara shook her head and turned her attention back to the artifact at hand.  "You will never change, will you, Alex?"  

His smile vanished.  He hated it when she played self-righteous.  "Oh come on, Lara.  Don't take the moral high ground with me."  He leaned in towards her, eyes fixed intently on her face.  "You **are** a tomb raider, after all."  

Lara did not look up at him.  "There are certain things that I will not sacrifice for a find," she returned.

Alex chose to ignore the intentional barb.  Her harsh disapproval had stirred up his temper, and his resolve to make nice disappeared.  "Did you tell that to Mr. Palmer before or after you took off with his merchandise?"  He gestured towards the glass-encased Trinity Gems.

"Mr. Palmer was adequately compensated for his disappointment."  She turned her gaze to meet his.  "I'm sure the same cannot be said for your 'client.'"

Alex stood to his feet, glancing around at the cutting-edge technology surrounding him.  iHis"I'm sorry, Lara," he scoffed.  "Not everyone has daddy's money to play with…"

As soon as he spoke the words, he immediately regretted them.  Lara stiffened visibly, and Alex could not help but feel that he had hit a nerve that even **he** had no right to attack.  "Lara, I'm sorry.  I…" he began hastily, silently cursing his own thoughtlessness.  What was it about her that always got to him?  Why did his cocky need to win always overrule everything else?           

Lara was quick to cut him short.  "These symbols," she interrupted.  "I assume you have the translation for them already."  She turned from the translating stone to look at him, and he was suddenly reminded of the way she looked the day she learned that he had crossed her.  He could not easily erase that image from his mind – her jaw had been set, her teeth clenched in barely suppressed hatred.  There had been more raw fury burning from the fiery depths of her eyes than he had ever seen before, even in the heat of her most passionate fits.  But beneath that, so deep that only he could see it, was a pained hurt that had cut him to his very soul.  And now, despite all his promises to never hurt her again, that same wounded expression was once again directed towards him.  

Alex felt as if he himself had suffered the injury of his own unfair words.  He escaped her unbearable gaze by turning his attention to his pack, from which he produced a collection of manuscripts.  "It's all there," he said, handing them over to her.  "I'm sure you'll be able to translate the rest of the Codes with that."  

Lara accepted the documents wordlessly, retrieved the translating stone from the table, and stood to her feet.  "I trust you will be staying the night?"  It was more of a comment than a question.  When Alex nodded, she continued, her voice flat and without emotion.  "I will see to it that Hillary has a room made up for you."  With that, she turned and left the room.  

Alex shook his head in frustration, silently wondering when he would ever learn.

*              *                *

Lara closed the door to her father's study and leaned heavily on the frame.  She felt as if every ounce of energy had been drained from her body.  Head lowered, eyes closed, figure slumped over, she was a far cry from the confident combatant and successful "tomb raider" she had become known as.  Only one person in the whole world could ever make her feel like this.  Why did she continue to allow him to hurt her?

Lara walked over to her father's desk and collapsed into the welcoming arms of the familiar seat.  She always felt closest to him when she was in this room, as if his presence were always there, guiding and watching over her.  She closed her eyes again, now yearning for that comfort she had come to rely upon.

Alex hadn't meant what he said, she knew that.  His temper, and his mouth, sometimes got the better of him – that was just how he had always been.  She had accepted that long ago, as he had accepted her aloof, stand-offish attitude.  But still, there was something about the way he always knew what would get to her the most.  He could break down her defenses like no one else could, leaving her with the one emotion she detested the most – vulnerability.  

Lara's gaze wandered to the photograph of her father – her own dark eyes smiling back at her from the still image.  That smile somehow soothed her troubled mind.  It reminded her of that brief moment in time they had shared together, before she made the choice to destroy the Triangle of Light, along with any chance to reclaim their stolen past.  That had been the hardest choice she had ever made, and she had told only one other person about the experience…

She shook her head in frustration.  Alex had been so sensitive then.  He had understood how hard the decision had been for her and had unconditionally supported her choice.  Nothing else mattered – not his love of money, not her anger over the past, not their constant rivalry…  For the first time in a long time, things felt right between them.  She felt as if she could finally begin to trust him again.

Then again, maybe Alex was right after all.  Trust **was** a highly complicated issue.   She very rarely gave the same person a second chance to hurt her.  That survival instinct had been engrained into her personality long ago.  It had kept her alive more times than she could count.  It was the reason why she had been so successful in her career.  And it explained why there was still a part of her that refused to let go of the past…    

*              *                *

"I don't trust him."  Bryce paced the short stretch of kitchen floor restlessly.

Hillary looked up from where he was preparing dinner.  "Neither do I," he stated calmly.  "But Lara has seen fit to include him in this project, and I think we should trust her judgment."

Bryce was not pacified.  "He hurt her once, you know."  
  
The butler smiled in mild amusement at Bryce's anxious behavior.  "I am aware of it."

"He'll do it again!  I'm sure of it."

Hillary put down the knife he had been using.  "Were you not the one who wanted to call Mr. West in the first place?"

"Well, yes." 

Hillary persisted.  "And, did I hear you correctly when, not an hour ago, you were telling Lara that she could trust him?"

Bryce nodded impatiently.  "Yes, but that was when I knew she wouldn't listen to me."

Hillary paused.  "Let me see if I understand.  You wanted Lara to call Mr. West for help, knowing that she would never agree to it, and therefore would not actually receive the help she needed.  Now that Mr. West is here, and willing to provide the help Lara needs, you want him gone?"

Bryce considered his words.  "Yes," he said at last.  "That's exactly what I mean."

*              *                *

Lara had been starring at the documents for so long that the symbols began to blur and run together.  She rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.  Everyone else had gone to bed hours ago, but Lara refused to sleep until every last line of the Codes of Amari had been translated.  She had almost completed the last of the glyph translations, but they still weren't making very much sense.  With every piece that fell into place, there always seemed to be more missing.  

She glanced at the clock on the desk – 4:20am.  Maybe she should take a break after all.  The crown of Amari wasn't going anywhere, and she could really use some sleep…

Lara gathered Alex's documents together in a pile and reached for her own digital imaging photos.  Just as she was about to slide them all into a file, something caught her eye.  It was a photo of one of the three scroll casings that housed the documents.  She held the photo closer to the light, suddenly intrigued.

A light flashed in her eyes.  Of course!  Why hadn't she seen if before?  Excited now, Lara shuffled through her photos until she found images of the other two scroll casings.  Lying them out on the desk in a triangular pattern, she stepped back to take a look.  When fitted together, the patterns on the casings formed the exact same design that adorned the alter in the Temple of Andora.

"Life, death, and the space between," Lara murmured in quiet wonderment.  

*              *                *

Light flooded into Alex's room, and he reacted on pure extinct.  Snatching his gun from the nightstand, he had it trained and ready to fire even before he knew what he was firing at.

"Get up," Lara ordered from the doorway, completely unaffected by the weapon aimed at her forehead.

Alex rubbed his eyes wearily and lowered the gun.  "Lara?  What the hell is it?"  His voice carried more than a little irritation. 

"The key to the crown," she answered matter-of-factly.

Alex was instantly alert.  "You found the location?"  

"Almost.  I found a riddle."  Lara eyed him expectantly.  When he did not make a move to get up, she prompted him impatiently.  "Are you coming, then?"

  
Alex smiled roguishly.  "If you insist."  He threw back his covers and swung his legs to the floor.  Lara tried not to notice that he had nothing on.

*              *                *

"All this time, I had thought that the three scrolls were connected as if in a trilogy – one after another."  Lara leaned over the imaging photos laid out on her father's desk.  A now fully clothed Alex stood behind her, peering over her shoulder.  "And to some extent, they did follow this order.  The ceremonial descriptions, the history of the crown and their great ruler Amari…All of the information I had been able to interpret using known Mayan glyphs."  She arranged the photos as she spoke so that they once again connected to form the triangular design of the temple alter.  "But, even after I used the glyph conversions you derived from the stone, I was still unable to come up with a translation that made sense."

"Like scattered words that didn't make up a full sentence," Alex finished.  Lara looked up at him in surprise.  "After you left, I did some translating of my own," he explained casually.  

She looked at him in mild wonder.  "Right."  Turning back to the photos, Lara traced her finger along the design.  "It wasn't until I saw this that it hit me.  Life, death, and the space between."  She looked back up at him, the excitement of discovery glowing on her face.  "The Mayans believed that all three – past, present, and future, were intermingled…inseparable, if you will.  Time was not linear to them, as it is to us.  It only follows that their priests would describe the location of their most preciously guarded possession in this same manner, intermingled and inseparable."

Realization dawned in Alex's face.  "The scrolls were not meant to be read one after the other, but **together**."****

Lara nodded.**  "**Each line is divided among the three scrolls, so that the text only makes sense when read as one."  She pulled a stack of manuscripts out from under the photos.  "These markings here," she pointed.  "They are not part of any known Mayan writing structure, not even from your translating stones."  She gestured towards the stone lying on the corner of the desk.  "They simply tell the reader when to continue to the next scroll.  It's brilliant, really."

"Brilliant, indeed."  Alex could not help but give her a look of admiration.  "Nice work, Lara."

She continued.  "Once I had solved the key, the translation was easy."  She held up a notepad covered with her own handwriting.

Alex took the paper from her hand to read:

                 "'The power of life is the power of the death

                   Lesser, nor greater – one is not to the other.

                   A light shines from the space between 

                 From below, the beginning of all.'"

Lara watched him expectantly.  "What do you make of it?"

He tapped the paper thoughtfully against his chin.  "'The power of life is the power of death…'" he repeated slowly.  "Sounds to me like a reference to the Trinity Gems and Codes of Amari."

Lara smiled in approval, pleased that he had come to her own conclusion.   "That's exactly what I thought.  The Mayans believed that gems, especially the Trinity Gems, were a source of life.  And why were the Codes written in the first place?  To reveal information to someone who had already passed over into death."  She read over Alex's shoulder.  "'Lesser, nor greater – one is not to the other.'  I think this means that they were placed in equal relation to each other."

"And equal relation to the crown – the space between," he continued for her.  "A triangle.  It's telling us to triangulate the location of the crown, using the locations of the gems and Codes."

"And this here."  Lara pointed to the final line of the riddle.  "'From below, the beginning of all.'  The final point to the triangle is below the other two points, existing in the space between."  Lara turned to her father's map of the world, which covered nearly all of the wall space above the desk.  Alex was already studying it, his index finger quickly finding what he was looking for.

"You found the Codes in Central America," he said, his finger landing on the former Mayan kingdom of the Yucatan Penisula. 

"Yes, here."  Lara guided his finger to Guatemala, near the city of San Benito.  "And the Gems were found in Russia, here."  She pointed her own finger to the northernmost area of the vast country.

"Then the space between…"  Alex slid his finger down the map.  

Lara's finger met his in the middle.  "…would be here."  

Alex looked up at her, smiling.  "Better get packed," he said.  "Looks like we're going to Africa."

  
  


.       


	4. 

The orange-red glow of the morning sun slowly crept in from the single window, reaching out with golden fingers to touch the dark corners and shadowed crevices of the room. Dust hung heavy in the air, lethargic in the hot, humid atmosphere. A single cot, stashed in the corner and draped in heavy mosquito netting, and a hand-hewn table and chair were the only pieces of furniture in the small quarters. The wooden floor was partially covered with a once-brightly colored rug, now faded with age. 

Lara sat in the center of the rug, legs crossed Indian-style, hands resting lightly on her knees. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and rhythmic. A sense of calm was present in every muscle of her body, every curve and line of her figure. Her face, even more beautiful in the glow of the morning light, reflected an inner peace oblivious to the world around her. 

This was the scene that Alex came upon when he entered Lara's room in the run-down inn. They had arrived in Angola late the night before, crashing at the first hole-in-the-wall boarding house they came across. Despite the long flight and early hour, he knew he would not find her still asleep. He wasn't even sure she **ever** slept. But he did not expect to find her quite so serene.

Alex paused to look at her. He had known her for a long time – those arching eyebrows and pouty lips, that long, luxuriously dark hair playing around her face and down her shoulders, her perfectly sculpted and dangerously athletic body…they had become as familiar to him as his own form. But never before had he seen her so completely at peace. She carried herself with a self-assured, comfortable air, but always with a hint of guarded caution. It was as if something about her could never quite let go…until now. Alex thought that she never looked so beautiful as in that moment. 

"Good morning." Lara's own voice broke the silence. She opened her eyes and smiled, standing to her feet in one fluid, graceful motion. 

"Mornin'" Alex answered, stepping the rest of the way into the room. He dropped himself into the chair. "Found us a guide. Someone who can take us most of the way into the mountains."

"**Most** of the way?"

Alex nodded. "Seems as if there's some sort of spirit living up there, one that the locals are mighty afraid of."

"A legend passed down through the generations, I assume?" Lara returned. 

"One that would keep away people who didn't belong." Alex smiled recklessly. "I even had someone suggest to me that I should make a sacrifice before I go up there, just to appease the gods so they won't sacrifice **me**."

"Did you find any volunteers?" 

"No. Are you interested?" 

Lara answered with a wry smile, one that mirrored his own. She made her way over to the table, hoisting a backpack to the surface. 

"Going somewhere?" he asked innocently, as she inventoried the provisions inside the pack.

"The shopping around here is horrific. And there are no tourist attractions for miles. So, I thought I would try to find a crown."  
  
Alex stood to his feet. "Well, in that case, I guess I'll tag along." He leaned in close to her. "If it's not too much trouble."

His breath fell lightly on her skin. "You are **always** too much trouble, Alex," she retorted softly, her own breath coming much too quickly.

An eternity of seconds passed between them. Inches apart and both unwilling to break away, they shared a moment of absolute yearning. All of the emotions that had been carefully hidden and artfully denied for so long suddenly boiled to the surface without warning. Before either of them knew what was happening, they had closed the short distance between them, lips meeting in a passionate kiss. Alex drew her closer to him, and for once she did not resist. All reason, all excuses had vanished from her mind. Without completely understanding it, all she wanted was him.

A sudden knock at the door interrupted them. Lara quickly pulled away from Alex, her head whirling with a mix of confused emotions.

"Message for you, Mr. West," a small, dark man said in broken English. He held out his thin hand to offer up a single slip of paper.

"Thank you," Alex growled at the man, reaching for the paper as he spoke. 

The little man left, and Alex turned to Lara. Her back was now to him, and she was once again occupied with the contents of her backpack. Before he could say another word, she spoke first. "Who knows you are here?"

Alex watched her with growing frustration, knowing all too well that whatever moment they had just shared had abruptly passed. "No one," he answered. He briefly glanced at the paper. "Lorenzo Nicosi," he read. "You know him?" 

"Do you?" she asked, turning to face him.

Alex shook his head. "Never heard of him. Wonder how he found me."

"Perhaps you mentioned it to one of your 'clients'…" she suggested, voice not without sarcasm. 

"Hey," Alex said defensively. "China was **not** my fault…Those thugs were there waiting for us long before I mentioned it to my 'client.'"

Lara snorted skeptically. "Right, Alex. You are always very prudent." 

Her scorn caused his blood to boil. "Sure, Lara. Go ahead and take that holier-than-thou attitude you're so famous for. It's not as if **your** judgment has always been perfect."

She leveled his gaze at him. "You're right, Alex," she replied evenly. "Sometimes the heat of the moment obscures my common sense." Alex did all he could not to flinch at her very pointed comment. "But don't worry," she continued. "It won't happen again."

"Got that right." Alex angrily turned his back on her and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Alex stomped into his own room, slamming the door so hard that it rocked unsteadily in its frame. Why did she do that to him? Why did she let him get so close, only to push him away? 

He angrily paced the room, half mad at himself for once again treading down a path that he knew would only bring pain. He couldn't help himself. When it came to that stubborn, sanctimonious, emotionally closed-off woman, he was nothing less than a glutton for punishment. He would rather be hurt by her than cherished by any other person in the world. No matter how hard he tried not to be, he was still hopelessly, foolishly in love with her.

Alex ripped off his shirt and headed for the shower. **Anything** to clear his head…

* * *

The moment Alex left, Lara slumped down in the chair. She could not understand what was going on inside her own head, let alone what had just happened. One minute, the only thing she could think about was Alex's touch, his lips on her own, and how much she wanted him to take her into his arms… And then, the next moment left them angry and fighting.

She stood back to her feet, pacing the floor and taking deep breaths to clear her mind. As she walked, something suddenly caught her eye. It was Alex's message, lying on the floor where he had accidentally dropped it from his pocket. She leaned down to pick it up. "Lorenzo Nicosi," she murmured thoughtfully. "Who are you and what do you want?"

* * *

Bryce hummed happily to himself, making final adjustments to his latest robotic creation. Lara had shot so many bullet holes into the last one, that he had been forced to build a new one from scratch. Not that he minded the task, of course. This new robot was somewhat smaller than the last and considerably more agile, as well as reinforced with bulletproof titanium steel. He smiled proudly. Let's see how long it took her to tear up this one…

The phone rang, interrupting Bryce's thoughts. He reached for it with one hand, his other hand still on the droid's control panel. "Hello?" he spoke into the receiver.

"Bryce?" Lara said from the other end. Her voice sounded crackly and far away, but still audible. 

"Lara, is that you?" he asked, knowing full well that it was. "How's the trip going?"

"According to schedule," she answered. "Bryce, I need your help accessing some files."

Bryce swung his chair around to face a computer screen. "Sure, then. What is it? Local geography?"

"No, a name. I need you to look up a Mr. Lorenzo Nicosi. Get as much information as you can."

Bryce paused, curious. "A new client?" he asked.

"A possible threat. I can't talk now. Just get all the information you can find, and download it to my laptop."

"Right, then." Bryce began typing furiously. "You want me to…hello? Lara, are you there?" He sighed, the dial tone the only sound in his ear. He hated it when she did that.

* * *

Less than twenty minutes later, Lara was scrolling through the information Bryce had sent to her computer via satellite. What she found was disappointingly normal.

According to Bryce's files, Lorenzo Nicosi was a big-time oil magnate, dealing with some of the most productive petroleum producing countries in the Middle East. Italian by birth, Nicosi currently resided in Saudi Arabia, as the President and CEO of a lucrative oil coalition. With numerous awards for his efforts to balance drilling with ecological responsibility, he was praised by both businessmen and environmentalists alike. His current projects included a tentative agreement with the United States to bolster their relations with oil-producing countries, as well as keep prices down and business up. One of Nicosi's known hobbies was the collection of ancient artifacts, both rare and beautiful in design.

Lara sighed, starring pensively at the photograph Bryce had included in his files. Apparently, Nicosi was just another one of Alex's potential clients. And, from the looks of it, a prominent and powerful client, at that. One that would have no problem tracking Alex down to request his assistance in acquiring a new piece for his collection. So, why was she disappointed? Why did she want Alex to be guilty of something, so that she would once again have an excuse not to trust him?

Lara would not have a chance to answer those questions. A slight sound behind her caused her to whirl around, snatching her guns from the table as she did so. In the next instant, her computer exploded in a brilliant ball of fire. 

Lara dove under the table, 9mms already firing back at the doorway. She wrenched the table over on its side as a makeshift shield just as more bullets answered her own, raining down in a relentless flood of noise and light. Within seconds, the cot had been reduced to mere shreds and a portion of the wall above her head had crumbled into dust.

Then, she saw her targets. Wearing masks and dressed in black military garb, several attackers advanced into the room. She picked off the first two, a look of satisfaction crossing her face as they fell to the ground. Several more quickly appeared at the doorway, guns blazing back at her. 

Lara glanced rapidly around her. She had no doubts as to what they were after. The Trinity Gems and Codes of Amari were nestled inside a lockbox, hidden some ten meters away under the floorboards where she had stashed them the night before. Making a dash for them now would mean getting her head blown off. She needed a distraction.

Down the hall, Alex poked his head out of the shower. He hastily pulled his clothes on, listening. There it was again…the sound of gunfire reverberating off the paper-thin walls. He quickly launched himself into action, grabbing his gun from the table and loading it with a fresh clip as he went. He could never go anywhere with Lara without getting into some kind of trouble. Maybe that was part of her appeal…

Alex dodged into the hallway, spotting the shooters immediately. There were nearly a dozen of them, armed with high-powered rifles and crouched outside of Lara's room. They traded fire with their target inside, those unfortunate enough to be closest to the door falling victim to Lara's deadly precise aim. Alex body-checked the door neighboring her room, feeling the wood crack and splinter against his shoulder. He ducked inside, gun at the ready. 

The occupant of the room, a frail old man dressed in a dirty tunic, instantly cowered in a corner on his cot. He held up his wrinkly hands, shielding his face and shouting something in his native tongue. Alex ignored him, taking position next to the doorframe. He paused almost imperceptibly before opening fire. 

In the next room over, Lara gritted her teeth and popped off a few more shots. She had managed to keep the front-runners from entering the room, but just barely. For every one attacker she shot down, two more appeared in the doorway to take his place. It was only a matter of time before her luck – and her ammunition – ran out. 

Just then, a sound came from behind her. With a rattling, wall-shaking explosion, the window above her head shattered into a thousand pieces. Several more black-masked men appeared in the opening, AKA rifles in hand.

"Bloody hell," Lara muttered. That wasn't exactly the type of distraction she was hoping for. Rolling onto her side, she aimed one pistol above her and one at the doorway. She opened fire on both fronts and somehow still succeeded in finding her targets. It wouldn't hold them off forever, but it gave her a much needed, split-second pause from the enemy's weapons.

Lara took that time to dive out from under the table and launch herself towards the far wall. She landed and rolled under the remnants of the cot. The instant she found cover, the sound of bullets exploding from their chambers once again cut the air. Without pausing, she kicked her feet out, slamming the wall with every ounce of strength she could muster. The flimsy wall gave way under the impact.

Out in the hallway, Alex was crouched on one knee, using the doorframe as cover. He had picked off three attackers before they could react, but there were still half a dozen more left. The intruders closest to him instantly turned their fire in his direction. He traded volleys with them, wondering how Lara was doing holding them off from inside her room.

Almost at that exact second, the wall to his right trembled unsteadily. He turned just in time to see a good-sized hole form from the other side. Lara's head materialized from the breach, followed quickly by the rest of her body.

"Alex," she addressed, spotting him immediately. "Why are there people shooting at us?"

Alex fired two more shots into the hallway. "I thought **you** might be able to answer that question."

Lara noticed the man hovering in the corner. She aimed her weapon at the window, causing the old man to flinch and cry even louder. Lara's weapon gave a loud report, disintegrating the window in a single blast. She yelled something at the man in his own language, pointing to the window for emphasis. The old man did not have to be told twice. He darted from his cot to the window, hefting himself through the opening and making a quick escape to the street below. 

"You ready to get out of here?" Alex asked, firing a few more rounds as he spoke. 

"The Codes and gems are still in my room," Lara answered, head nodding back in the direction she had just come from.

"No time." Alex's gun suddenly clicked, empty. "And no more ammo." He tossed the weapon aside and moved rapidly towards the window. "Time to make our big escape." 

Alex waited for Lara to go first. She launched herself through the window and gracefully dropped down to the ground below. Alex followed close behind. The next instant, the air around them became alive with the high-pitched whine of live ammunition. Lara and Alex reacted instinctively, rolling behind several scattered boxes and away from the direction of the fire. They crawled along the side of the building on hands and knees, rounding the corner and into a deserted alley – a deserted, dead-end alley.

"Bugger!" Lara exclaimed.

"Damn!" Alex echoed.

The sound of approaching gunfire quickly made them dive for cover behind a row of steel receptacles. "So, who are they, Alex?" Lara managed to ask, panting. "Friends of yours?" 

"Friends of **mine**?" Even in the heat of battle, Alex was insulted. "Why couldn't they be friends of yours? You seem to have more 'friends' than me."

"Well, that's true," Lara replied. "But **my** friends generally don't wish to kill me." She glanced quickly around her, searching for an escape before their enemies rounded the corner. "How do they know we are here?" 

"Maybe your 'friend' Mr. Palmer wasn't quite satisfied with your compensation," Alex taunted, his eyes also working to find a way out. "Maybe he was a bit of a loose end that you didn't count on."

Lara paused to glance at him. "Or, perhaps your 'friend,' the one who so **willingly** gave you such a great bargain on the translating stone, was a little more dangerous than you assumed."

Alex snorted. "Right. It's always my fault. Lara Croft can do no wrong."

Lara suddenly leveled her gun at him. Alex's eyes widened. He knew she had a temper, but this was ridiculous. "Hey, Lara? Could we maybe…forget I said that? You wouldn't want to do anything you would regret…right?" He paused, suddenly wondering if shooting him would indeed be something she would regret.

"Duck." She spoke the word quietly, but firmly.

Alex immediately dropped as far as he could to the ground. Lara's pistol rang loudly in his ear, discharging the last of her ammunition. Alex knew without turning around that another attacker had met his maker.

* * *

"You have news for me?" Lorenzo addressed Alberti without even turning around in his chair. The younger man stepped into his half-brother's study, silently wondering how he always knew when someone was there.

"The attack is under way." Alberti spoke the words with barely-masked excitement. 

Lorenzo turned to face him. "The gems?"  
  
Alberti allowed himself a small smile. "They will be in our possession momentarily."

"And Ms. Croft and Mr. West?"

This time, Alberti's smile was much bigger. "They will soon be…eliminated." _Finally, he mentally added. _

Lorenzo sighed with satisfaction. He leaned back in his chair. "Have the plane readied, Alberti. Our waiting is nearly at an end." 

* * *

Lara glanced around her. Walls on all three sides, piles of useless boxes and trash bins scattered haphazardly around the alley, and armed attackers seconds away from reaching them. They were trapped, out of ammunition, and currently deprived of both the Codes of Amari and Trinity Gems. The odds were hopelessly stacked against them… It was a good thing Lara thrived on hopeless odds.

She looked up, suddenly knowing what to do. She holstered her now useless weapons, and in the blink of an eye, sprang atop a metal receptacle and hurled herself towards the roof of the building. Grunting with the impact, she landed on the flat surface and rolled away. Alex followed wordlessly, and not a moment too soon. The instant he disappeared over the edge, their pursuers rounded the corner into the alley. 

Crouching low to avoid detection, Lara and Alex darted their way along the length of the building. From their vantage point, they could see dozens more armed attackers lining the streets. Several bystanders cowered in corners and doorways. Guerilla warriors were a terrifying – but not uncommon – sight in their country.

They reached the edge of the building and looked down. Another alley. Lara mentally calculated the distance to the next building over – nearly eight meters. "Too far," Alex commented from behind her.

"What's the matter, Alex? Are you going soft on me?" Lara's eyes twinkled.

Alex shook his head. "It's crazy. You'd never make it." His voice practically dared her to try. 

She gave him one of her prettiest smiles, then made a running leap off the side of the building. Arms outstretched, her fingers found the edge of the roof on the other side of the alley…but just barely. Lara tightened her grip, hanging there for a fraction of a second before hauling herself to the surface.

"That's my girl," Alex murmured to himself. "Crazy as hell."

He took a deep breath before repeating her move. He too barely grabbed a hold of the roof. He struggled slightly against his own weight, mentally marveling at how easily she always made everything look. Then, muscles straining, he too hoisted himself to the roof. 

Just then, a shot rang out from behind them. Finding no one in the alley, it had not taken long for their pursuers to figure out where they had gone. Two black-masked men were now charging towards them on top of the building they had just left, guns blazing. Alex and Lara sprinted away, ducking and covering to avoid the fire. Abruptly, Lara changed directions, and headed to the left. 

Coming to the edge of the roof, Alex and Lara hastily surveyed the scene below them. Silently, they exchanged a glance. Then, in unison, they leapt off the side of the building and fell to the ground, landing unceremoniously on top of a massive trash heap. Without pausing, they raced towards their desired object – a rather decrepit-looking motorbike parked on the curb some fifty meters away.

Alex reached the bike first and fiddled with the wiring. Miraculously, the thing roared to life. He already had the motorbike in motion when Lara wrapped her arms around his waist, hauling herself on behind him. Alex spun the bike in a tight circle, pointing it in the direction of the main marketplace. 

The bike raced at breakneck speed down the street. People scattered before them like frightened animals. Directly ahead were two attackers, weapons coming to bear on the motorbike. Before they could get a lock on their target, however, Alex and Lara were already upon them. Lara's booted foot shot out to clock the first man square in the throat. He fell back heavily against the second attacker, effectively smashing them both to the ground. 

More bullets rained down on them from behind. Lara glanced back to see a heavily armored Hummer in hot pursuit. A sharpshooter was hanging partially out the window, rifle trained and firing. Alex swerved the bike, just barely missing the latest barrage of firepower. He fed the bike more gas, forcing the protesting heap of metal to its limits. The enemy vehicle only drew closer, hanging on to its prey tenaciously.

Just as Lara was beginning to wish that she were astride her trusty Norton, Alex spotted an alley up ahead and to the left. He cut the motorbike so sharply around the corner that the tires squealed and slipped, very nearly overturning the small vehicle. Alex and Lara held on, working together to counterbalance the bike with their weight. The motorbike reluctantly obeyed, righting itself as they skidded around the corner. Lara looked back in time to see the Hummer, too large to fit through the opening, slam violently into the far wall of the passageway. 

Alex and Lara shot through the alley and back onto a main street. He looked back to give her a confident smile. At that moment, six motorbikes rose up from all sides, riders armed and ready to take over the pursuit. Almost instantaneously, as if fate were callously mocking them, the ancient motorbike sputtered and coughed, fighting a losing battle to stay alive.

Alex's grin promptly vanished.

  
  
  



End file.
